This Moonlit Night
by reikotsu
Summary: At the masked ball, she was the butterfly maiden. Him? He was a mystery. [Oneshot] [DukexMai]


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-gi-oh! I don't even own the title! xP

**A/N:** I seriously needed something to relax my mind after all that thinking in vain for the last chapter of _My Valentine. _And yes, the characters are seemingly out of character because yeah, I have this thing for formal speech. I absolutely love the way people in the medieval times talk. :)

* * *

**This Moonlit Night**

Mai Valentine stood at the side of the Kaiba Mansion, scanning the crowd through the holes in the mask she was wearing.

She sighed.

Why was she here again?

Oh yeah, she was here because her father was invited to the masked ball held at Kaiba mansion by Gozaburo Kaiba himself. And she was forced to tag along.

The reason for this ball? Who knew.

It seemed just like another one of those lavish parties thrown just to show that the host was rich and powerful enough to host one. But of course, with Gozaburo, it was probably a plot to gain the favor of all the other rich and powerful people in town.

She snorted.

Like he needed to. He owned Kaiba Corp.

Once she had set foot into the mansion, she had already been asked by dozens of young men to dance. Normally, she would have turned them all down but with her father standing there, she was forced to comply.

Now she stood at the side of the room, glad to have gotten away from those disgusting, stuck-up, pathetic excuses for 'gentlemen' who thought they were all that just because they had money and parents who owned huge estates.

Now, as much as Mai loved parties and dressing up to go to them, going to a masked ball hosted at _Kaiba _Mansion was not quite something she would be overjoyed to go to.

Of course, she still dressed up. She was Mai Valentine after all.

And she basically had on the same thing she always wore: the white tank top, a dark purple skirt with matching boots, complete with a cape and butterfly mask. (**A/N:** Think Madame Butterfly.)

She yawned, running her hand absently through her hair.

_God, how boring can this party get?

* * *

_

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was leaning against the wall, a bored expression on what he could see of her face.

He smiled in amusement.

He had not been sure that it was her at first. Of course, he had no idea that her father was rich. She had never talked much about her family. Or her life for that matter.

A young woman walked up to him. "Would you care for a dance?"

He glanced briefly at her, as to not lose sight of Mai just in case she decided to split. The young woman was exceptionally beautiful, but not Mai Valentine.

He smiled politely at her.

"I am truly sorry, but I must be elsewhere, my lady."

He made his way through the crowd casually, all the while keeping his eyes locked on the purple-eyed butterfly maiden.

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a young man making his way through the crowd. She knew he was coming for her just by the way he was looking in her direction.

She groaned inwardly.

Another one of those rich stuck-up egotists, perhaps.

He stopped in front of her and bowed. He held out his hand. "May I have this dance, my lady?"

Or perhaps not.

Surprisingly, she felt herself extend her hand.

He took it in his and kissed it. His eyes returned to her face and he smiled.

She felt herself flush.

She knew she was beautiful. Heck, that's what men usually noticed first about her. But there was something about this young man.

Something about his eyes, so vividly piercing green, that seemed to penetrate through to her very soul. His gaze was so intense that she couldn't seem to tear her eyes from his.

At last, he led her to the dance floor. A slow dance came on and she instinctively put her hand on his shoulder, intertwining her fingers with his. His other hand made its way to her waist.

She wondered why she felt so comfortable with him, seeing as he was a complete stranger. Or was he? He looked awfully familiar, yet she couldn't seem to remember seeing those eyes anywhere before. It was as if she were entranced; time seemed to stop as she stared into those emerald orbs.

Finally he asked, "So what are you exactly? A butterfly maiden?"

"This isn't exactly a costume party, but yes, I suppose you can say so," she replied, looking over his outfit. "And who are you supposed to be? Prince Charming?"

"Not quite," he said, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "There is a distinct difference between a duke and a prince."

"Well then, I beg your pardon, my Lord Duke," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "How could I have possibly mistaken you for Prince Charming?"

"Indeed," he said simply, smiling.

_Yep, this is definitely Mai. Yet, she does not seem to recognize me,_ he mused.

The dance ended then and he reluctantly let go of her.

There was a sudden loud shrill noise coming from the stage located at the front. Mai looked in that direction to find Gozaburo standing there tapping the microphone, testing it. With Seto Kaiba right next to him.

Joyous.

"Would you like to step outside for a moment, my lady?" he asked, extending his hand to her. "That is, if you do not mind missing the speech they are about to make."

"Are you kidding? Just the sight of those two would be enough to make me doze off."

* * *

The garden located behind Kaiba Mansion was as large as the mansion itself, with so many paths that it almost seemed like a huge maze. Yet, one could easily find their way back to the entrance, as there was a wide pathway running straight through the whole maze, and if one walked all the way to the center, they'd find themselves in front of a marble fountain.

And that was precisely where Mai Valentine stood, staring at the spray of water coming out from the center of the fountain.

He glanced over at her then, and the moonlight caught her face, causing him to catch his breath.

The wind blew softly at her hair and cape, and the moonlight only seemed to intensify her strong and bold features, making her even more beautiful than ever.

She turned towards him then, and he blinked, his face breaking into a soft smile.

"Why do I have this feeling that I know you from somewhere?" she asked at last.

"Perhaps you do," he replied mysteriously.

She stepped forward, her hand reaching for his face.

"Take off your mask," she said, her voice a mere whisper in the wind.

He caught her hand before it reached his face. "In due time, my lady."

He leaned forward, catching her completely off guard, and brushed his lips with hers.

He smiled then. "We shall meet again, my butterfly maiden."

She broke out of her spell-like trance, realizing that he was leaving.

"Wait! You haven't even told me your name!" she called after him.

He glanced over his shoulder. "You already know it… Mai…" he threw something at her.

She caught it and puzzled, stared after him. The object felt cool in her hand. She then looked down at it.

A six-sided die.

* * *

**A/N:** AWWWWW… Ok, that was just so completely mushy that I made myself sick. Haha. But yeah, I enjoyed writing this. A heck lot less complicated than _My Valentine. _Ah, too much thinking for that story. xP I find this couple rather interesting. If you haven't figured it out, it's Duke/Mai. Yet, it, like most of the couples I strongly approve of, does not necessarily exist in the show itself. Oh well. Experimentation is fun. And I'm extremely sorry for the OOCness but I felt that it would be far more interesting than modern speech. xD 


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